‘Cycling district’ in Singapore to serve as example in push for ‘car-lite’ city

Witteveen+Bos and Singapore-based design and engineering consultancy Surbana Jurong were recently awarded a contract by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the planning and design of the cycling network in the city’s Ang Mo Kio district.

The project aims to create a cycling network there that will enable the district’s 175,000 residents to cycle safely and comfortably, setting an example for all of Singapore.

Asian megacities have been designed for motorized traffic. Due to increased prosperity and intensive use of available space, road congestion is rapidly approaching critical levels. For that reason, Singapore has been actively pursuing a policy for a number of years now to discourage car ownership and to promote alternative modes of transport. To achieve that aim, the government is communicating a vision and campaign to turn Singapore into a “car-lite” city. This vision involves promoting public transport, cycling and walking. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) selected the densely populated Ang Mo Kio district as a model town for this strategy.

Superior design In the pre-design phase,Witteveen+Bos will draw from its Dutch cycling infrastructure expertise as well as experience gained in Singapore in order to design superior infrastructure. In the final design phase, local engineers will contribute to taking the designs a step further underWitteveen+Bos’ supervision. A unique feature of our approach is the spatial analysis that enables us to decide how to design cycle routes and crossings in the existing densely built-up environment. The envisioned increase in cycle usage will also be factored in, even at this early stage, by identifying upgrade options. ‘We are immensely proud that Witteveen+Bos was selected as a specialist in cycling infrastructure and to have been given the opportunity to contribute to the development of Singapore’s walking and cycling infrastructure’, says Martijn Akkerman, cycling infrastructure, planning and design expert at Witteveen+Bos.